TGF, The Inquisition And Our Coherence
Prakash John Mascarenhas, Bombay, India.
One of the posts on the Goan Forum, by a Goan, say, "You may cite the Inquisition - unfortunately, most of the "trials" were conducted by hypocrites. I am not making apologies here, merely stating the context under which one must view those horrible years." Another tells of "the most horrible Inquisition perpetrated by Right Wing Catholics under the watch of the Portuguese."
I do not wish to fight with the persons who posted this. However, I cannot leave the statement unchallenged, either.
I wish to say that, while there were, indeed abuses, on the whole, by and large, the Inquisition was a good, holy and Christian organization. No Christian, who is knowledgeable of his faith, can or will make such a statement against the Inquisition.
Both the Bible and Apostolic Tradition teach that it is the duty of states, as much as of individuals to acknowledge and submit to the True and Revealed Faith, firstly of the Mosaic Dispensation and subsequently of the Messianic. Thus, Christianity is constitutionally theocratic.
When a person claims to be a Christian and rejects theocracy, he is either in invincible ignorance or is a hypocrite. Invincible ignorance excuses.
When we look to the Bible, we find that it consistently teaches and advocates theocracy. Thus, the kings of Israel, and latter, the kings of the Two Kingdoms, are judged by their fidelity or infidelity to this principle: Kings who permitted paganism are denounced, kings who zealously acted against paganism are praised and compared to King David, who is exalted as the greatest and the best.
In the Bible, we find that God commanded the Israelites to invade, totally exterminate and colonize Canaan, a country to the north-east of Egypt, the modern-day Israel or Palestine.
During the middle Ages, the Popes, responding to the aggression of Islam, pronounced that it was God's Will that Christians take to arms and resist and even endeavour to recover the stolen lands.
And so on and on.
In the civil, political sphere, we see that States not only claim the right, but even enforce these rights, to protect the legal currencies, standards and weights. These are material goods. But much more important than mere matter is the spirit and the spiritual sphere: the good of souls - their salvation. Therefore, states have as much, and indeed, a greater duty to act to preserve and protect against heresy and against all errors, whether paganisms, gnosticisms, agnosticisms, dei-isms, etc.; anything that militates against the Truth and which adulterates it in the minds of souls.
There is no reason, either, for a Christian to feel embarassed by Christian theocracy, even if he is only looking at the protests by the other religions. Each and every of the ancient and major religions of the world too impose themselves on the minority which dissents from them. The same is true of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam in India. The Great Difference is that Christianity has time and again proved its claim to be the sole and exclusive spiritual truth.
But, if a Christian will nevertheless still say that he does not accept and embrace theocracy, then I would suggest that he makes a mockery of Christianity and the Bible, and that therefore, it is better for him, and more in keeping with his principles, that he should tear up his Bible and throw it onto the garbage heap.
Coherence
As a community, the majority people of the EIP are distinguished as Christians. Sadly, however, the unity and fidelity of the Christians no longer exists.
This is because of the Great Apostacy of the Modernists, who revolutionised the faith of their adherents and dupes and misled them away from the true faith, in the Aggiornomento and in the false council of the Vatican 2.
These new teachings are radically anti-Christian, derogating from Christ's exclusive claims, and seeking to bring all mankind into a religious union on the basis of equality.
It is this great truth that has devastated the Christians and, leaving them confused and without proper Counsels, bringing them to disasters.
The priests and bishops of this sect have signally failed to provide us with the natural intellectual and ideological leadership that the priests and bishops of the Catholic Church used to provide us. And, much worse, they have, on the contrary, deliberately worked at subverting and confusing us.
Therefore, if we are to be successful, I am certain that we, as the peoples of the EIP, the Goans, Damanese, Divans, and the Vasavans of Dadra & Nagar-Haveli, must necessarily return to the Christianity of our Fathers, the Christianity that St. Francis Xavier brought us, and which we have abandoned since 1958 - 1966. Thus only can we be coherent among ourselves, and thus only can we be assured of Divine assistance in our endeavour.